Take a break this week...

I was delighted to see Kelly's post on John Kerry's "botched joke." Please respond to it and continue discussion, but I will not be grading posts this week. You have been reliable and open in your dialogue, so take a break and work on your communication plans! We'll pick up with graded responses and blog monitoring (RSS, etc.) after Nov. 8.

Senator Kerry's "botched" joke

I know that this week we are supposed to respond to two blogs, but I was really curious on everyone's reactions to Senator Kerry's "botched joke." At a campaign rally in California for a gubernatorial candidate, Kerry was making cracks at President Bush. During his speech, he said, “You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”

It has spun from there and has turned into quite the scandal. I first heard about this by a teaser for the news and my first question was - where was his PR team?! Then after reading this article on MSNBC.com, his spokesperson said the joke was supposed to go, “Do you know where you end up if you don’t study, if you aren’t smart, if you’re intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush.” It’s amazing to me how one small little word - us – can make such a huge difference. Since then, Senator Kerry has commented that it was a nothing more than a spoiled joke and that President Bush should apologize, not him.

MSNBC is running a live vote on people’s reactions to that comment and whether or not Kerry should apologize. At 7:03 am on November 1st, 59% of voters felt that his comments were inappropriate and implied that military personnel were unintelligent. As this continues to unravel, how much should Senator Kerry start to re-think his position? With elections rapidly approaching, is it a time to maintain your innocence, or just apologize and get it out of the media?